1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a barbecue assembly, and in particular, to an assembly which has a driven spit arm for receiving food to be cooked, where the spit arm is laterally movable towards an open side of the barbecue.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In commercially sized barbecue units, the units generally include a lower casing member or chamber, which contains the heating medium for the cooking, normally propane gas burners in the larger units. These units also include a spit arm for holding the food to be cooked, which is generally a rod rotatably fixed to the unit. The unit also includes a drive mechanism which imparts rotational movement to the spit arm, to turn the food during the cooking phase. Finally, a cover member is normally included which covers the entirety of the open cooking area, so as to keep the heat and moisture in the unit for best cooking results.
Normally, such food items as whole pigs, or chickens, are cooked on the barbecue units. It is not uncommon to have large cooking areas for such barbecues; and given the weight of the good to be placed on the spit arms, it is oftentimes quite difficult to hold the food items, while leaning over the cooking area to add the food items to the spit arm. It should also be noted that the open surface area is quite hot due to the heating medium, which can become quite uncomfortable for the person or persons operating the barbecue. Such a movement is also ergonomically discomforting, as the person is holding great weight while leaning over the barbecue in an attempt to add the food to the spit arm.
One of the ancillary difficulties or shortcomings of the above mentioned unit is that the covers to such units are relatively large and cumbersome also, in that they must cover the entire open area of the cooking unit when closed, but must also access the spit arm when open, so that the food items can be added to the spit arm as mentioned above. Thus, these covers are relatively heavy to open, which simply intensifies the entire operation of the application to be accomplished.
These and other shortcomings in the industry are intended to be resolved by the present invention.